Ram Dass and Stephen Levine take questions from the audience and talk about dealing with fear, appreciating your own unique incarnation, transforming negative energy, and more.

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This episode of Here and Now is the final part of a talk given by Ram Dass and Stephen Levine in San Francisco in the 1980s during the AIDS crisis. Don’t miss Part 1 and Part 2 of this talk. In this recording: 

• Ram Dass and Stephen answer questions about dealing with fear in someone who is ill and how to be with a person who is caught in their fear. They discuss the function of fear and how there’s no way we can really take away another person’s fear, but we can be an environment in which they can let go of it if they choose. 
• Responding to a question about viewing AIDS as a death sentence, Stephen says, “No one has to die your death for you, and you don’t have to die your death for anyone else.” Ram Dass brings up the issue of time and talks about not getting attached to a model of what you think life experience should look like. Ultimately, it’s best to appreciate the uniqueness of your own incarnation.
• Finally, Ram Dass and Stephen are asked to reflect on society’s reaction to the AIDS crisis. Stephen explores how difficult it is to keep your heart open around people whose hearts have closed, while Ram Dass talks about the art form of transforming negative energy. 

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About Stephen Levine:

Stephen Levine was an American poet, author and Buddhist teacher best known for his work on death and dying. He was a friend and colleague to many Be Here Now Network Teachers. Along with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg, Stephen is responsible for making the teachings of Theravada Buddhism more widely available to students in the West. Find more talks and writings from Stephen at levinetalks.com.

“I mean, there’s an art form to learning how to flip negative energy, and there’s plenty of it in the game you and I are all involved in at this moment. And it’s inside ourselves and it’s in each other. And the question is how quickly we can identify it. The minute you can notice it you start to get space. The minute you get space, you can start to transform it. And you can transform that negative energy into something through which you can grow.” – Ram Dass

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